


Unto Dusk

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Josh owns the mountain, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mike has horses, Polyamory, Sam is pararescue, Stupid Teenagers, There were still Wendigo in the mines guys, Threesome - F/M/M, sequel fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4989133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam watched her eldest mount her horse alongside her father for the first time when she was sixteen and riding up to Blackwood Pines, a shotgun in one hand and the reins in the other. Josh stood beside her, still as a stone, each twin holding one hand. No one knew the mountain better than Amanda. </p><p>Still, watching her saddle up once more to chase after Emily's princess of a daughter and Jess' stud of a son, she really wondered if even Amanda was enough to save their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unto Dusk

Sam watched her eldest mount her horse alongside her father for the first time when she was sixteen and riding up to Blackwood Pines, a shotgun in one hand and the reins in the other. Josh stood beside her, still as a stone, each twin holding one hand. No one knew the mountain better than Amanda.

Still, watching her saddle up once more to chase after Emily's princess of a daughter and Jess' stud of a son, she really wondered if even Amanda was enough to save their lives.

“Are you sure you can do this? I don’t want my baby hurt.” Emily repeated, pacing the length of the stable doors, rubbing her arms.

“Aunt Em, not even Dad has travelled this mountain like I have.” Amanda pulled the straps snug and gave her horse a pat on the neck.

“And what about your horse? Can you trust it not to buck you off?”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, because I know this is the last thing you want to talk about but she’s fought off the Wendigo before.” Miles said, bringing over the rest of his older sister’s tack. His blonde hair dulled to a light brown in the winter, but the sharpness in his eyes and the sturdy set of his jaw was a constant reminder that Mike was his father. Amanda shrugged a long brown braid over her shoulder.

“My whole family practically lives on this mountain. We patrol it all the time. This is far from my first time fighting them. Not even my first saving someone from them.”

“I don’t want Tiffany hurt.” Emily responded.

“I’d say that’s a little unfair.” Jess said, frowning.

“Oh, so you want Will wounded?”

“I never said that.” Jess replied, voice always low in the shadow of the mountain. “It’s unfair to tell them to make sure Tiffany doesn’t get hurt when they’re risking their own life and limb to rescue our stupid children.”

“I don’t care. My little girl is all that matters to me.”

“Gee, thanks.” Miles and Amanda muttered at once, finishing strapping the ammo bags onto the saddle.

Jess only sighed, nervously glancing up at the mountain.

* * *

 

In the end, it was Amanda and Jay who saddled up. While Miles had helped Amanda and Mike had counted shells, Josh had gone over to his children.

“You know I don’t like you doing this. I don’t like it one bit.” Josh said, eyeing his son, an almost mirror image of him save for the golden streaks in his hair and the woodsy green in his eyes.

“I know.” Jay replied just as quietly. “But Amanda and I are a duo. Can’t have one without the other. Hell, we _killed_ one of them together.”

“I know, I know.” Josh sighed, fighting back the shakes. “You’re not taking Hannah or Beth, are you?”

The twins peered over the horse, matching glares in their gazes. “You’re so over protective! We can handle ourselves too, you know!”

“On the summer mountain. Not the winter one.” He took a shaky breath and they let up on their glares. They’d seen the pictures – sometimes after a particularly intense nightmare or meds change, their father would cringe away from their touch or flee entirely, fear and damage in his eyes that only Mom and Dad could fix, could soothe.

* * *

 

* * *

 

“No! Get away!”

“Pops, what’s-“

“You’re not real!”

Within moments, Mom and Dad appeared in the kitchen, one on either side, cooing sweet words to him as they guided him to the ground and held him.

“It’s okay. They can’t hurt you here.” Mom said

“We’ve got you. We’ll protect you.” Dad said, gently kissing over his face, his remaining fingers guiding Pops' gaze up to meet his own. "We're here, Josh."

“C’mon.” Amanda whispered, startling them. She hadn’t been there when this started. “We have to leave them.”

Miles grabbed Beth’s hand and they were lead into their sister’s room.

“What was that?” Hannah questioned, more than a little shaken at her father recoiling so violently from her. She didn’t even get the water she’d went down for.

The Munroe siblings shared an unreadable look before Amanda sighed.

“You know I’m a lot older than you, right?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Beth made a face. “Six years, right?”

She nodded. “How old does that make me?”

“Fifteen. Miles is thirteen, Jay’s eleven and we’re nine. What does that have to do with anything?”

“That means I’ve been around longer, you know?” When she was serious like this, she looked so much like Dad. Almost as much as Miles looked like Mom when he was about to do something dangerous. “And Mom’s told me secret things.”

“Like what?” Hannah piped up.

“If I tell you, you have to be really nice to Pops. Don’t be mad at him for tonight and don’t tell Mom I told you.”

“Okay!” The twins readily agreed, smiling brightly.

“When Dad was nineteen, Aunt Hannah and Auntie Beth – the ones in the pictures in your room? – they died on the mountain really tragically.”

“Did someone kill them?”

Another look passed between the Munroe kids before Amanda shook her head. “It was an accident. They fell off a cliff. But Pops was really close to his sisters and suffered a lot after they died. A year later, evil things came out of the mines and hurt our parents. Sometimes they still have nightmares about it. And because of Pops’ illness, it can be hard to tell if what he sees is real or fake, especially when the nightmares are really bad.”

“Wait, so why is he scared of us? What was he seeing instead of us?” Beth asked, forever the shrewd thinker.

Amanda smiled sadly. “Because Aunt Hannah and Auntie Beth died up there, he sees them too. They’re not nice to him, and you look so much like them. That’s all.”

The twins looked at each other, suddenly very sorry for their father. It was always hard to see him down, but to know he was scared too . . .

“The best thing you can do is to leave Mom and Dad to help him.” Miles interjected before either girl could run to their father’s aid. “They know how and he might still not see you as you.”

“Okay.” Hannah nodded as if to reaffirm the action. “We won’t go back downstairs tonight. Can we see him tomorrow morning?”

Amanda hesitated. “Ask Mom or Dad first.”

They nodded, in sync as usual, and joined hands the way they did when they were worried. “Okay. We’ll leave them alone.”

* * *

 

Hannah and Beth held hands as they watched Amanda and Jay race off into the show.

“Will they be alright?” Hannah asked.

“We should have gone with them.” Beth replied, gripping tighter. “We all should ahev gone.”

“No, it’s best that they’re only two.” Miles said, draping an arm over each. “The more there are, the more Wendigo they attract.”

Matt knocked on the door to the stables. “Has anyone see Kira?”

The twins tightened their hold. 

* * *

"Do you even know where we are? Why is it so fucking cold?"

"Do you ever shut up, Tiffany?"

"Oh, so sorry, Mister Toronto-totally-is-a-big-city."

The blonde rolled his eyes, holding the lantern a little higher. "At least I don't have to jump to get glasses." He wasn't expecting the quick punch to his kidney. 

"No one asked you, Will."

"So you two snuck away too, huh?"

The two turned around to see Jack leaning on one doorway while Laura was on the other, both of them with their strawberry blonde hair and dorky grins. 

"Too bad you two didn't take more after your mother." Tiffany muttered, covering her startle with sarcasm.

Jack shrugged, his grin widening. "If Dad could get a babe like Mom, I should have no issues."

"And I do take after Mom. See? I don't have the nerd glasses." Laura smirked. The glare Jack sent her had no heat. 

"You made it, too? And here I was thinking this was only my idea." Kira held a flashlight from the top of the stairs. 

"So have you found anything interesting?" Laura asked. 

Kira blew an exasperated breath. "Of course not. That family is paranoid, honestly."

"Things like Wendigo don't even exist." Jack snorted. 

"Then I can't believe I'm up here. especially if nothing interesting is going to happen." Tiffany crossed her arms, leveling a look Will's way.

"I told you it was a rumour, not a haunted house."

Suddenly, the door blew open and Amanda was cocking an ten gauge shotgun their way, her other holding a flashlight up, scanning them. "What the fuck did I tell you?!"

Jay flew in behind her, his flashlight scanning everything at a hyper speed. "How far did you get?"

The others were frozen.

Amanda had started scanning the other half of the room. "Answer him, for fuck's sake!"

"No-Not far." Kira replied. "Just the main entranceway and the upstairs."

"So no one went into the basement?" Jay asked.

"No."

Both of them turned to each other. "Then they didn't-"

"They shouldn't be able-"

They both nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Amanda who spoke. "You're all really fucking stupid."

"Why?" Tiffany shot back. "There's nothing up here but snow and dead trees."

"Nothing up-" She pursed her lips and forced down her anger, borne out of experience and fear. "Nothing up here, huh?"

Laura and Jack stiffened. Every two months, their parents took them to the base of Washington mountain, where the Munroe horse ranch was. Their parents visited and they spent time with Jay and the twins, who were closest to their age. Miles was a friend too, but Amanda was their older sister. Laura's gaze fell to Tiffany.  _It's a trap. Don't say a word._

Tiffany shot the eldest Munroe-Washington an unimpressed look. "Uh, yeah. You go deaf? There. Is. Nothing. Up. Here."

Amanda stiffened and Jay stepped in. "Well, it was your mother who sent us. They want you back at the ranch. In fact, we should all go."

"Why?" Will asked, much softer than Tiffany. "You live on this mountain - what are you so afraid of?"

Amanda shot him a withering look. "Exactly."

He put his hands up in placation. "I wasn't arguing, just asking."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "You're such a pussy. Can't even stand up to a woman."

Jay grinned. "If men standing up to women was how we measured masculinity, you'd make sure no man was left standing."

"Excuse me?!"

Jay smirked harder. "Just look at how your dad acts around your mom. Like, if that's not whipped, I don't know what is."

Will stuffed down his chuckles, but Tiffany turned her murder glare on him anyway. ". . . He's not wrong?"

"You're an ass."

"I prefer 'loveable rogue'."

Amanda cocked her head as the house groaned. 

Kira watched her out of the corner of her eye. "C'mon. We've had our fun. Let's go back to the ranch."

"Backing out of your own idea, now, are you?" Tiffany snarked. 

 _Bitch sold me out._ Kira's eyes narrowed. "I said to come up here, now I'm saying we go back down."

Amanda had stalked around to a farther section of the floor, more into the living room than the foyer. She was staring at the floorboards. "Jay."

"Yeah?"

"As soon as I fire, everybody runs."

They were all stock still and quiet except Jay, who was vibrating. With a gulp, he spoke. "Where?"

She stomped on the floor and a long, sickly-pale arm shot up from the floorboard, hand wrapping tightly around her shin. She fired the shot and was pulled down through the floor. 

* * *

Once he got everyone out of the house, he didn't stop to grab the horses. They saw him run and followed after, only encouraged by the inhuman shriek that echoed from the inside of the building. 

They made it to the front lawn of the ranch like that, collapsing on it and panting. 

"What the hell was that?!" Tiffany shrieked, high enough to make the collie in the stable whine. 

"What the fuck do you think it was?!" Jay yelled. "Seriously, what could it  _possibly_ be?! Maybe the fucking Wendigo we warned you about?!" _  
_

Josh was the first out the front door, followed closely by Sam, Mike and Emily. "It got Amanda?"

"It dragged her through the floor." Jay panted, the adrenaline making him sway on his feet. "She might have gotten out. She did last time."

Kira shook her head. "Last time?"

"God." Matt huffed, pulling his daughter to her feet. "When I speak, do you not hear anything?"

"Did she still have her shotgun?" Mike questioned, checking the horses. 

"Yeah. And the shells on her belt."

Mike winced. That wouldn't be enough. "I'm going up."

Sam lead Jay over to Josh, who wrapped his son in a warm embrace, letting him shiver out the last of his shakes. "I'll go up with him. make sure he calms down, okay?"

Josh met her gaze and nodded. 

"Can we do anything?" Matt asked. 

Josh held Jay tighter, the teenager closing his eyes and leaning in. "Watch your fucking kids."

* * *

* * *

When she was eighteen, she'd decided the best thing to do would be explore the mines, that autumn cold enough to already leave snow on the ground. 

No surprise, it was only when she seen shattered bones and blood she started to consider that she was in too deep. The screech that followed after only reassured her of that feeling. She stilled, breath coming in short, silent wheezes. 

It had noticed her, no question. Her sensed told her it was on the ceiling behind her five feet back, another piercing cry confirming it. Distantly, she could hear the scuttling of the others, shirking the area that the one behind her was in. Only the shock of the cold stopped her from moving - and subsequently dying. 

Cold, clammy fingers hooked into her waist, nails like spikes sinking into her flesh when it shrieked again. The pain was sharp and deep - she could feel the shrivelled fingertips against the holes where the nails were impaled. It cried again, dragging the nails across her stomach and down off her left leg. 

Some sound or motion picked up its attention and with a sharp jolt, it sprinted away, the embedded nails ripping the holes wide enough to leave a long, jagged canyon on her torso. 

Pressing a shaky hand into her side, putting pressure on the worse wound, she made her way back out. The ride back on her horse was so atrociously painful that she was nearly delirious when she entered the stable, only staying on by the sheer luck that Miles and Beth were tending one of the thoroughbreds. 

In the months it took her to heal, she reopened the wound twice and it healed crooked - a lumpy bolt of white against any tan she tried. The scratches, too, left their marks. 

_Goodbye swimwear._

* * *

* * *

She winced as the pain in her right thigh flared again, the impact of her running irritating the wounds constantly. 

_Great. Now I'm gonna be the only one at the beach with pants on._

Her practice loading the shotgun overrode how hard her hands were shaking.

_Pop open the barrel, the empty shells will eject. Two new shells - one between index finger and middle, the other between middle and ring, facing backhand. Slide in. Pop barrels back up._

She had managed to make it out of the mines, but her blood was trailing her and that wasn't really good. She was sure her horse was gone too, spooked back down to the ranch, most likely. 

_Gotta thank Jay later. Didn't want to see her hurt. Now, let's see if they're on this side of the mountain._

It was risky, but she wasn't getting anywhere like this as it was. She whistled, shrill and high. There was an answering howl and a shaggy white wolf jogged out of the woods. 

"Hey puppy." She patted the wolf's head. "I need your help, okay?"

She cocked his head, but she knew she was listening. After all, they grew up together. She even knew the pups, all grown up into the pack now. 

Another chilling wail rent the air and the wolf pressed her cold muzzle under her palm. 

"You're right. Let's go."

* * *

Sam had never gotten into the whole 'horses' thing. She didn't mind the beasts and a few even nuzzled her when she came to check up on her family. She and Josh had just never been interested in it. Their children had grown up around the beasts, though, and as such were natural riders. When the kids were small, Mike even bought ponies (Hannah and Beth and Jay were jealous of Amanda and Miles' horses) for them to ride. That didn't mean Sam didn't learn, unlike Josh. Amanda was relentless in her younger years and wouldn't let Sam get away without riding (Josh - the slacker - had been immovable to the girl's charms). 

Now, on her way to save her little girl - her very first baby and the one that resembled her the most - with her arms wrapped around Mike's rippling abdomen, she was more than thankful her men kept her body . . . elastic. 

Mike's hand gripped hers, incomplete. "Relax your thighs. Loosen your lower back and you won't jolt painfully like you are."

She did as she was told, resting her cheek against Mike's back when his advice helped. 

"We'll find her, Sam. I'm not letting anyone else die on this mountain."

* * *

"Look what you did!" Tiffany yelled.

"What  _I_ did?! Just who the hell do you think you are, bitch?!" Kira yelled right back. 

Emily had almost gotten up to intervene, but Matt had gripped her wrist, silently shaking his head.  _It'll only make this worse._ She had almost ignored him, too. Josh's furrowed brow and fixed gaze on the front door stopped her. Jay held one of his hands and hadn't yet left his father's side and didn't look like he was planning to any time soon. 

"Yeah! This was your brilliant idea! And look what you let happen!"

"Oh no! Don't blame this shit on me! It was your mother which brought them up there because of you,  _princess_!"

"Don't mock me, you slut! You're just pissed that I got to Will first!"

"Please! Anyone who wants a part of  _your_ frigid ass, I want nothing to do with!"

"I don't want to be around anyone who would let Amanda get killed!"

Jay's gaze whipped from the door to his father's face. "Are you okay? Shake your head for no, nod for yes."

Very jerkily, eyes on the door but no longer focused, Josh shook his head. Miles, who was leaning on the doorway between the kitchen - where their parents were - and the living room - where Kira and Tiffany were screaming - stood straight and pushed the two girls apart. 

"How dare you-"

"What the fuck-

"YOU'RE GIVING MY FATHER A PANIC ATTACK!" He glared at them both in the silence that resulted. "You're both really fucking helpful, especially when you're arguing over who was more selfish over something like worrying about my sister,  _who risked herself to save you_. And  _I'm fucked_ if I know why she thought you were worth it."

"That's not fair, Miles." Jay called softly. "They're stupid, yeah, but not worthless." 

Timidly, Jack and Laura peered around the corner. "Is Uncle Josh okay?"

"His shaking is calming, but I need to take him upstairs." Gingerly, he eased Josh up, his father blankly following the physical direction. "Just . . . keep it down, will ya?"

"Sorry." Beth said. "We won't let it happen again."

Jay nodded and led Josh upstairs. The gentle sound of a door closing was the only one that permeated the subsequent air. 

"Apologize." The twins demanded. "You too, Miles."

He was stiff, but he spoke first. "I'm sorry. You're not worthless. Not by any means."

The twins stared Kira down while Will, Jack and Laura stared Tiffany down. 

KIra cleared her throat instead of sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting us into this mess, for Amanda disappearing and for triggering Uncle Josh."

Tiffany glared at them. "I have nothing to be sorry for."

Emily was out of her seat before Matt or Jess could catch her and her hand left a stinging slap on Tiffany's cheek that not only knocked her down, but left a red mark hot enough to be seen through her makeup. "Apologize, so help me God."

Tiffany stared up in shock, one hand cradling her face. "Mom?"

"You were stupid enough to go up there knowing full well what was up there.  _I told you_. Now Amanda's gone. If she's dead, you're just as much at fault as Kira for going up there in the first place. Fucking. Apologize."

She blinked back tears, fighting for composure, standing up and keeping more than an arm's worth of distance between her and her mother. Never had something happened like this before. Her mother had never . . .  _struck_ her. Even when she'd done and said stupid things, she'd never been punished for it physically like this. The throbbing in her cheek hurt almost as much as the shame that ripped through her pride. 

"I'm sorry." She forced her voice steady, feeling the waver behind her eyes. "I should have never gone. I'm sorry, Amanda."

* * *

Mike, Sam, Josh and Miles had been standing by the door, watching and murmuring softly to each other. Hannah and Beth were in the stables still, readying more tack and primping the horses. Jess and Matt were talking quietly with Ashley and Chris about nothing - a paper thin veneer to hide their nervousness when they discovered Jack and Laura were gone too. 

Only Emily sat apart, an angry, sour expression on her face, staring resolutely ahead, but not  _at_ anything. She was furious. Not only had her daughter disobeyed her - directly no less! - but here, of all places. 

Oh yes, she was simmering with rage. But the ice creeping into her soul was made purely out of  _fear_. The phantom of pain passed through her shoulder and her frown deepened. Those disgusting teeth had left marks on her skin that she had grown her hair out to cover in the California sun. And now her daughter would be subject to the same creature she had barely escaped. 

_Mike's hands were wavering on the gun, but there was steel in his eyes. He'd always been the 'for the ultimate best' kind of guy, despite how selfish he could be. Terror pierced through her heart when his finger tightened on the trigger. Oh God, she was going to die._

She blinked the memory away. She could understand why he did it. She was far from happy about it, but when she held Tiffany in her arms for the first time, exhausted and sore beyond measure, she knew she would hold the gun to her own head if it meant saving her. She would do anything for that girl, had tried to give her everything and protect her from the bad things in the world, human and demon alike. And now her baby might die - with the way Amanda wielded that shotgun, she might be less patient than Mike had been with a diagnosis. 

 _The rail tracks under her, the Wendigo screaming in rage as it gave chase behind her, the way the uneven ground strained and twisted at her ankles, how the very primal fear tore into her composure. The musk, filth,_ rot _that was following her, all around her-_

 _Tiffany fleeing in the same state of panic, caught in the same burst of adrenaline and instinct, clothes dirtied and chest heaving as she pushed herself to go faster, faster,_ faster _-_

Her frown turned into a scowl as the ice spread into her heart, squeezing it mercilessly with the true terror of the situation. 

 _Back in the basement, huddled together, Jay stood where Sam did, Amanda where Mike was and Jack and Laura watching, not knowing which outcome to fear more. Desperately, she was pleading her case, trying to convince them she was fine_ , dammit _, but the way Amanda had the shotgun cocked said her words were nothing when faced with the bite on her shoulder._

_"I'm sorry." Mike and Amanda's voice were one as her finger tightened on the trigger-_

Suddenly, the door was yanked open and the Munroe-Washington family was out of the door. 

"What the hell was that?!"

Emily was out of her seat in moments, rushing to the door, taking in with her own eyes her daughter collapsed, panting, in the snow, scared but  _alive and breathing-_

She sat herself back down in the kitchen, listening to Kira and Tiffany start to argue. When the insults started, she stood because  _only I get to treat my daughter like that, how dare you_ but Matt's face sat her back down. And Josh. 

She could only imagine the anguish in his soul. His sisters, all that time ago, and now the mountain might have claimed their first child. Their strongest, the one that grew up on the mountain, the girl that had already escaped death on that terrible rock enough to wonder if her luck had finally run dry.  _  
_

"-would let Amanda get killed!"

Josh was shaking. Jay was scared, containing his own panic to help his father, the screaming helping absolutely nothing. Miles shut them both up. She wasn't surprised to hear Hannah and Beth settle things back down, nor was she surprised that Miles and Kira would apologize before Tiffany. The girl had her pride, for better or for worse. 

"I have nothing to apologize for."

She only saw through the red when she felt the sting in her palm from slapping Tiffany so hard. 

_What the fuck do you mean?! The lives you've gambled, the things you've made me relive-_

She was yelling. She didn't know what, but she was  _yelling_. The shock and hurt in Tiffany's eyes was nothing. 

 _Do you have any idea how scared I was? Am? We all barely skirted death the first time on that fucking mountain and you went up there to_ play _when you_ knew _. You should be sorry for everything. You should be sorry, so sorry. You should apologize to everyone - how fucking dare you?_

Her daughter stood, backing away from her and cradling her cheek, her gaze screaming betrayal. 

_I'll hold the gun to you myself if it will save you from that. I swear to God, I'll do it. Don't you ever fucking disobey me when this mountain is involved again._

She left her daughter standing there, humiliated and likely sporting a new bruise, to sit back down in the kitchen. She stared ahead, ignoring the shocked but knowing looks Jess and Matt sent her. Only flashes of her last experience on the mountain played through her mind, her red-hot anger collapsed in on itself into empty, numb blackness. 

* * *

Wendigo may be fast, they may be strong, and they may be thin, but the way they moved prevented them from getting into small-mouthed caves like this one. She pulled up her pant leg, inspecting the damage and wincing. She was going to need stitches again. 

He wolf moved closer to her, sniffing the claw marks before gingerly licking them. She hissed in pain, but kept herself rigidly still. It stung like a bitch, but it was necessary. It wasn't like she carried antiseptic on her person (though she really should, now what she thought about it). 

"Thanks babygirl." She sighed, petting the wolf's mane as to not disrupt the licking. "No winter pups this year?"

The wolf's eyes cast up to her, then back down again. The last time she had winter pups, she hadn't been able to find enough game for them. The only reason they survived was because Amanda had found them and brought them meat and water. Even with that incentive, it would have been unlikely she would have been let close enough to feed them if the wolf herself hadn't been from the pack Dad's old Alpha Wolfie had formed. She grew up with those wolves. They had even pseudo-kidnapped her and Miles at one point, bringing them to the pack den. 

"Good. They're too hard on you." She pet the she-wolf's fur once more, casting her eyes and ear towards the cave mouth, listening for Wendigo or horse. "Do you mind if I stay here for a bit?"

The she-wolf tucked her paws under herself and laid down, easing the strain on her neck. Amanda chuckled. 

"As good an invitation as any."

* * *

Sam knew the mountain. She had learned very well after her experience, but if her children were to live so close, she wanted to know where they were. She would never know the paths like they would, but she would at least be able to guess. Mike, on the other hand, had taught their babies how to navigate the mountain. Their horses, too, were well versed in the mountain - unafraid and more loyal to their masters than their skittishness. 

"Do you have any idea where she could be?"

One of his hands passed over hers. "Did you hear the whistle?"

"The really high one?"

"Yeah. That'll be her."

"Doesn't that attract too much attention?"

"It's call the wolves. She'll probably be holed up in a den somewhere around here."

"That why we've detoured into the woods?"

"Mmm-hmm." 

She nodded against his back.

Mike had kept them together through thick and thin. His acceptance and understanding of Josh during the initial rocky period of their threesome was a tedious, patient task that Sam didn't think he'd make it through. 

* * *

* * *

Sam was always the earliest riser, so it was kind of strange to wake up in their king sized (because the boys were bed-hogs) and find it empty. There was no note on the bedside table, nothing. Without her resident heaters, it was bloody cold, too. 

"Eugh. They took their coats, too." She shook her head. "So inconsiderate."

Instead, she stole Josh's robe and went down into the kitchen. A note was left beside a full pot of coffee. 

_Josh went non-verbal in a panic attack this morning before dawn. We're both safe. - Mike_

She smiled at the note, slipping it into the small chest she kept near the coffee machine. Pouring herself a cup, she went into the living room, opening up the curtains and and watching the sun creep around the mountain. 

 _5:30 am. I wonder when they'll be back_.

* * *

She saw their silhouettes long before she could see them, edging into the evening. Long shadows of horses and riders. She greeted them on the porch with coffee and tea biscuits, blankets on the chairs to shield them from the fall-winter chill. 

Josh was smiling softly, relaxed, but exhausted. Mike looked tired too, but he sported the same relieved smile. She smiled brightly at them, watching as Mike fluidly slipped off the horse only to have to ease a still Josh off. Josh must have mumbled something, because Mike laughed. 

"Yeah, well, if you had forethought like Sam you would have learned to ride when I offered the first time." Josh rolled his eyes, but Mike kissed his cheek, nuzzling into his temple for a moment before letting him go. "Go see Sam. I'm gonna put the horses away and untack them, then I'll join you."

Josh nodded and waddled his way up to the porch, falling into Sam's arms when she opened them for him.

"Welcome home." She whispered, squeezing him tight just to feel his smile against her neck. "Do you want to talk about what happened or do you want coffee?"

"Coffee."

"Okay. C'mon. I've got us a blanket fort. We can ambush Mike!"

That got another smile and they disappeared under the plaid material. 

* * *

Amanda was their first child. When she was born, they still hadn't decided who's name to put down. Mike was her biological father, but that didn't mean Josh wasn't one of her dads. When they asked Sam about their children's last name or their names in general, she gracefully backed out. 

"You two are both more creative than I am. You can give them good names. I don't mind."

When she was born, however, all of those arguments and indecisions were completely forgotten. Sam, of course, got to hold her first, but when she looked up at her boys, Mike just shook his head. 

"Josh first."

"But-"

Mike sent him a stern look, only somewhat broken by the crooked smile he was sporting. "Say hello to your little girl."

* * *

After Amanda, they decided on Munroe-Washington. Not original, but it wouldn't alienate the siblings from each other. Sam wondered if her boys forgot about who got to hold the baby first - Mike held Miles first and named him and Josh did the same for Jay. However, when the twins were born, Josh nodded down at them.

"Go ahead."

"Really?" Mike looked startled. Josh just sent him a crooked grin. 

"I held Amanda first."

Gingerly, he picked up the little girl closest to him, cradling her tiny frame against his chest. "May I name her?"

"Sure."

His only remaining fingers stroked down the infant's face. "Nice to meet you, Hannah."

Sam looked down at the other baby girl. "Then you'll have to be Beth."

"Read my mind, Sammy."

Josh sat down on the bed, smiling through the sobs that wracked his frame. Mike sat down next to him, holding Hannah out to him. As gently as he could, despite the hiccups rocking his frame, he took a hold of her, one of her tiny little hands wrapping around his finger, pushing it against her tiny mouth.

"She loves you." Mike whispered, resting his head on Josh's shoulder and smiling down at the infant. "Look, she's giving you a kiss."

His hiccuping sobs started again and Hannah made a disquieted noise, Beth echoing from Sam's arms. Josh pressed a shaky kiss to her forehead. "D-Don't worry. They're happy tears." He peppered her small faces with those kisses, making her giggle. "So, so happy, Hannah."

* * *

The morning of the twins' eighteenth birthday, Amanda took them all into town, leaving the house in the serene silence it hadn't felt in twenty-six years. 

Josh sat in the middle of the couch, Mike and Sam with their heads on his lap, his fingers lost in the contrasting hair colours. Sam was curled on her side, wrapped in a blanket and Mike was stretched out, his legs hanging over the armrest. 

"It stings a little to move it."

"Stop being such a baby, Hannah. This was your idea!"

"No ti wasn't! Amanda suggested it! I didn't even pick out the design!"

"Who did then?"

Jay coughed. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week."

"You designed these?"

"Well, to be fair, it's not totally original."

Miles unlocked and opened the door. There was a bandage wrapped around left wrist. Hannah and Beth followed, their right wrists bandaged. Amanda was next, her left covered, before Jay, who had both wrapped up. 

"What happened?" Josh asked, concern warring with curiosity. They didn't seem hurt. Mike peered up at them, upside-down. 

"What's up, kiddies?"

Jay grinned, so excited he didn't even notice that he bit his bottom lip, the green in his eyes lighting up. "Amanda wanted us to all do something special for the twenty-five year anniversary of Aunt Hannah and Auntie Beth, so she asked me to come up with something all five of us could do together to commemorate them."

Jay moved to the middle of the room, Beth on his right, Miles on his left, Hannah and Amanda under them, kneeling. Quickly, they unwrapped their wrists, holding opposite hands up against each other, wrists facing out as their fingers formed a heart shape. Jay above them did it to himself, grinning broadly. 

Josh felt like crying. Memories of his sister's tattoo reveal flashed through his mind, her smile reflected on his daughter's face. 

Mike blinked in surprise, sitting up under the caress of Josh's now-limp hand. 

Sam stared blankly for a moment, lost in her own mind, transported back to the bottom of a ski lift in the dead of winter with Chris and a long wait. 

_"Boom. Butterfly Effect."_


End file.
